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Farrar and June Burn: 1929

April 3, 1929. "Main Street a la Cart." The Burn Ballad Bungalow on G Street in Washington, D.C. (I just know there's someone out there who can rescue these people from obscurity, regardless of how much they may have deserved it. Who were they?) 4x5 glass negative, National Photo Co. Collection. View full size. [Thanks to Shorpy reader Janet we have the answer: These are the wandering writers June and Farrar Burn and their sons North and South.]

June and Farrar are my great-grandparents. My grandfather is South Burn and my father Mark Burn. I would love to see the other photos and hear any stories about my family that any of you may have heard.

I've seen a picture of relatives who were boys in the late 1930s. They both wore shorts and had their socks rolled tightly the way you see them in this photo. Does anyone remember this, and how long did it last? My mother was also in that photo, doesn't remember the sock thing, and also wonders about it.

I was thrilled to find this photo on your site. First of all, where did you find it in the first place? June Burn is a famous Northwest writer, especially for her book, Living High, and sailing books. Farrar Burn's brother was Bob Burn or Burns, Bing Crosby's sidekick, and Farrar was a fair musician in his own right. The couple crossed the country at least twice with their boys, the first time pulling a goat cart and staying overnight in small towns and churches, literally singing for their supper. I would love to find other photos of them if anyone can direct me to them. Meanwhile, you can read more about June and the Burns at our site Skagit River Journal, including our full profile at our old domain here.

We welcome inquiries.

[I found this picture (as well as a second image) browsing at random through the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs catalog online. The caption information, taken from the handwritten labels on the negatives, was a bit garbled: "Burus Ballard Bungalow." But our Shorpy viewers figured it out. Maybe now the LOC can set the record straight. - Dave]

are mentioned in Annie Dillard's book The Writing Life. She lived on an island in Puget Sound and met someone who had known them; this man tells a story about Farrar going out rowing and being carried out to the sea, then rowing against the current all night and coming back the next day.

Shorpy.com | History in HD is a vintage photo archive featuring thousands of high-definition images from the 1850s to 1960s. (Available as fine-art prints from the Shorpy Archive.) The site is named after Shorpy Higginbotham, a teenage coal miner who lived 100 years ago.